In developing countries, identifying the most effective community-level governance structure is a key issue and, increasingly, empirical evaluation of the effects of democratization on the provision of local public goods is needed. Since the early 1990s, tens of thousands of villages in rural China have held local-government elections, providing a good opportunity to investigate the effect of democratization on the level of public goods provision.

This 2012 Global Food Policy Report is the second in an annual series that provides an in-depth look at major food policy developments and events. Initiated in response to resurgent interest in food security, the series offers a yearly overview of the food policy developments that have contributed to or hindered progress in food and nutrition security. It reviews what happened in food policy and why, examines key challenges and opportunities, shares new evidence and knowledge, and highlights emerging issues.

This paper presents the findings of a case study on land governance in the Ondo State of Nigeria. A conceptual framework based on concepts of organizational theory is presented to guide the study. The empirical part of the study focuses on two cases of land registration and two cases of land acquisition. A participatory mapping method called “Process Net-Map” was used to identify the actors and the processes involved.

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa. The 2006 provisional census counted over 140 million people (United Nations 2007), 64 percent of whom live in rural areas. These rural areas are undergoing radical, noticeable change, particularly in the agricultural sector. The agricultural sector is increasingly market-oriented and has seen a diversification of income opportunities and an increasing division of labor. It is therefore important to have a highly efficient rural service sector that fosters agricultural productivity and development outcomes.

Over the last several years, the Ethiopian government has committed substantial resources for the expansion of public services and infrastructure in rural areas. To what extent do these investments and services reach different social and economic groups in rural areas? This paper applies a public expenditure benefit incidence analysis of different public services in rural Ethiopia across gender and wealth groups. Among the results are findings that the gender gap in our study areas is substantial and that public works transfers are more progressive than direct support transfers.

The year 2011 highlighted ongoing challenges to global food security, from food price volatility, extreme weather shocks, and famine to unrest and conflicts. On the policy front, major devel­opments at the global and national levels both offered grounds for encouragement and pointed to areas where further action is needed.

This 2012 Global Food Policy Report is the second in an annual series that provides an in-depth look at major food policy developments and events. Initiated in response to resurgent interest in food security, the series offers a yearly overview of the food policy developments that have contributed to or hindered progress in food and nutrition security. It reviews what happened in food policy and why, examines key challenges and opportunities, shares new evidence and knowledge, and highlights emerging issues.

"In this paper we present the findings of a qualitative investigation into some dimensions and implications of policy volatility in the realms of natural resource (NR) governance and devolution in contemporary Sudan, with particular reference to Greater Kordofan. Our goal is to map out some aspects of the interplay between volatility, disempowerment processes affecting both state agents and the rural population, and certain problems of governance that are characteristic but not unique to Sudan.

"Despite the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which brought to an end 20 years of civil war in the Sudan, this country continues to experience smaller-scale conflicts, particularly around access to and control of natural resources. Some observers lay the blame for this on ethnopolitical or tribal divisions. However, this paper argues that there are a variety of factors at play behind these conflicts, notably the combination of resource scarcity with a crisis of governance that is particularly evident in transitional areas like the Kordofan region.

In 2011 two United Nations bodies adopted ambitious goals for halting land degradation and achieving sustainable development. These goals will be difficult, but not impossible, to meet. The evidence presented here suggests several avenues for achieving a world with no land degradation. First, efforts to promote sustainable land management need to improve local and national governance while also enhancing international cooperation.